Leading Container Shipping Companies Agree on Closer Cooperation

The Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and the French CMA CGM, have signed an important cooperation agreement. This agreement is based on further alliance between the Far East and Northern Europe, and between the Far East and South Africa and in services to and from South America. 

The two large carriers will redistribute their fleets on all the routes so that each service deploys the most suitable tonnage, regardless of who supplies that ship. The partnership will also enable both companies to increase the frequency to several other areas.

Diego Aponte, Vice President of MSC, said:  “we are very happy to have signed this broad-based partnership, which will unite our two family-owned companies in the years ahead. The agreement offers us new opportunities to optimise the use of our respective fleets, improve our transit times and increase our performance.”

Rodolphe Saadé, Executive Officer of CMA CGM Group, said: “for more than 30 years, our two companies have followed the same trajectory and for a number of years we’ve cooperated on a few lines. Based on this experience and our shared vision of the shipping industry, we have decided to step up our partnerships, which reflect a commitment to long-term cooperation and will enable us to offer customers improved solutions and services.”

About CMA CGM
Founded in 1978 by Jacques R. Saadé, today CMA CGM is the world’s third largest container shipping group and number one in France. CMA CGM is headquartered in Marseille (France), and operates out of over 650 offices and agencies in more than 150 countries.

About MSC
MSC based in Geneva, Switzerland is a privately owned shipping line, founded in 1970, which has rapidly grown from a small conventional ship operator to a leading international operator with over 400 vessels around the world. In Belgium and the Netherlands MSC is one of the biggest employers at their international harbors.

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Offshore Nieuws Staff, December 2, 2011;  Image: MSC